


Illusions of Grandeur… Or Perhaps Just Illusions

by AdrianaintheSnow



Series: Labeled [25]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Gen, Guns, Mind Manipulation, death mentioned
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:28:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24080587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdrianaintheSnow/pseuds/AdrianaintheSnow
Summary: Remus is training to be an undercover super-agent, but training is boring. So, being Remus, he… finds some “fun” (read trouble) with the city’s resident vigilante, Deceit.Janus is confused as to why this toddler dressed as a traffic cone won’t leave him alone.
Relationships: Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Deceit Sanders
Series: Labeled [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1616662
Comments: 84
Kudos: 243





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I need to stop make more sub-series. The universe is getting out of control.

Remus didn’t like the superhero suit they’d put him in. It felt all weird and wrong (not to mention it was ugly), and he hoped eventually he’d get to design his own costumes. Mama had taught him and Ro how to sew when they’d been five and despite the fact that he usually just used that skill to make butt shaped pillows, he was still sure he could have stitched together something better than this orange monstrosity. He could feel the seams of it on his skin and it was driving him bananas. Maybe he could have ignored it if he really tried, but he didn’t want to really try. It also didn’t help that he was _bored._

Training had been nothing but boring. Honestly, if they were trying to test him, they were doing a very bad job at it. Unless it was about seeing if he’d snap under the pressure of having nothing to do. Then they were doing swimmingly.

He knew he was only one month into the first phase of his training and that it would definitely get harder… but seriously? He’d thought being a superhero for a year would be about going out and taking down villains left and right not…

“Want another donut?” Officer Brigs asked.

Remus resisted rolling his eyes only because the man was nice if a bit boring. “No thanks.”

“Suit yourself kid,” he said with a shrug. Remus wondered if the man knew who he was or if The Coalition had kept that a secret from the man he was partnered with for this first year. Brigs was a cop that had missed working with Remus’s grandfather by three months. In other words, he was as old as dirt, but he’d seen a lot and worked with a lot of superheroes. They probably picked him because of his involvement with The Onslaught since that event was the entire reason The Coalition existed. The goal was probably for him to impart the necessity of the job Remus was training for. They wanted him to get a firsthand account of how horrible that event was so he could understand why his job was needed. Of course. Remus was already very well aware of that.

“Are we ever going to _do_ anything?” Remus finally asked.

“When there is something to do, we’ll do it.”

“…Can’t we make something to do?”

“No.”

“Just a little bit of something to do,” Remus begged.

“I think I have my grandson’s steering wheel toy in the backseat. I can drive around the block and you can pretend you’re driving.”

“You know for such a boring bastard you’re quite the dick.”

“Thanks.”

Remus slumped against the passenger seat with a groan. The next second his world got a whole lot more interesting when there was a knock on Brigs’ window from someone in a beat cop uniform.

Brigs took one look at him and sighed. He rolled down the window. “I have a message from Antarctica,” the guy said looking dazed. “The penguins have taken over the Mars Rover.”

“I told you not to go after him David.”

The man blinked at him slowly. “Hi.”

Brigs shook his head while opening his door and ‘David’ stumbled back a step to let him out. Remus scrambled to get out of the car and round it because he _absolutely_ needed to know what this was.

He quickly noticed that Brigs was looking at a man leaning against the building next to where they were parked. He wore a long cape and had a bowler hat on his head. Remus recognized him, of course, having grown up in this city. He was a vigilante that been in the city since mom was just a kid who went by the pseudonym Deceit.

“I think that,” he pointed at David, “belongs to you.”

Brigs sighed. “Unfortunately, he does. Get in the car David.” David looked at him and then slowly moved to do as he asked. “Penguins?” Brigs asked Deceit once David closed the backseat door.

“Oh, his mind chose that,” Deceit said, sounding just a touch amused. “I had to rip him away from a small tree he thought was one to get him here. I think he shed a few tears when he had to say goodbye.”

“Sounds like fun,” Remus interjected.

Deceit glanced briefly at him before dismissing him. “Well,” he said peeling himself away from the wall, “have a nice evening officer and,” he looked up and down Remus, “traffic cone.” Then he seemed to disappear, but Remus felt just the softest fluttering sensation in his head that told him Deceit likely hadn’t disappeared but gave them a gentle nudge into not seeing him. Ooo. He was fun.

“I didn’t choose the costume!” he informed thin air before turning back to Brigs. “Isn’t he a vigilante?” Remus asked Brigs. “Aren’t you supposed to at least try to arrest him.”

“Unlike David, I’m not an idiot,” Brigs said. “His powers are strong enough that he could easily down almost anyone in the city if he wanted to. We’re just lucky he doesn’t want to. The old folks already know not to mess with him, but some of the rookies get ideas of grander in their head. Let David be a warning to you.”

Remus hummed and got back into the car. Yet, despite the warning about Deceit’s powers, when he glanced back at David, he didn’t seem very worse for wear. He was a little confused and sometimes reached for objects that weren’t there, seemingly surprised when his hands closed around air, but he did not seem to be in any particular distress.

Remus, of course, already knew Deceit could be dangerous. He’d heard about the three different fights in the city during The Onslaught as they’d happened and had studied them during his college courses a decade later. One of the three battles had been waged at the Lial bridge, the major bridge that crossed the river that cut through the city. The perpetrator had been a compulsionist and had taken control of the citizens that had been driving on the bridge as well as a large chunk of the police force, included Officer Brigs as it so happened. The threat was that he’d make them all jump off the bridge if his demands were not met.

Yet, Deceit had stepped in. He’d somehow managed to rip away the villain’s control over the people on the bridge without killing them all and then, by all accounts, just absolutely ripped the compulsionist to mental pieces before shooting him in the head.

So, yes, Remus knew Deceit was definitely very powerful and could hurt someone if he wanted. Yet, his influence on David seemed quite gentle. He’d twisted him up in knots for sure, but ultimately, he seemed fine.

The effects of Deceit’s powers on David’s mind had faded completely by the time they made it back to the station leaving him with nothing but what he described as a “really weird hangover.” Brigs told him to go home and sleep it off, seeming to not even be worried enough to suggest he see a doctor. It sounded like this sort of thing had happened before.

When Brigs took him back out on the town after that, Remus had a lot of time to think. So he did. He thought and thought and thought. He thought so much that he was absolutely sure what he had in mind was a bad idea.

But, oh, it was going to be _fun_.


	2. Chapter 2

Stupid superheroes, Deceit thought to himself as he strode down an alley towards his secret base. Since when had superheroes gotten effective. Back in his day, superheroes were blundering idiots who were only good for punching things and creating property damage. When had all of these young brats decided to come out here and be good at things like subtlety and undercover investigation? When had they started caring about actual fundamental problems in the system instead of just showing up when some supervillain tried to make a death ray? That was Deceit’s job. They were stepping on the toes of vigilantes everywhere. Just because one of them lived cloaked in shadows and mystery did not give their little preschooler team-up the right to perform covert ops.

Janus had been doing surveillance on the Riddlon family for months now trying to figure out just what they were doing, and those two heroes had the audacity to show up at the exact right moment, clearly already well-aware that it would be the exact right moment, and tore down their entire smuggling operation a moment before Janus had planned to. How dare they?

He blamed the bloody bird.

Setting a good example and being a mentor to the younger generation. Who did he think he was? Deceit grumbled to himself and started putting his gloves on as he walked. He wouldn’t need to use his powers any time soon and, while he didn’t strictly need them as he was going back to base, it felt weird to be without them.

He paused at the end of the alleyway to use his powers to scan for any missed onlookers before opening the secret entrance to his base. He paused, eyes narrowed and turned his head to look behind him when he felt a presence.

“Halt villain!” a grandeurs voice said when he saw him looking. He put on a show at looking heroic, but it was a hard sell considering his costume.

Deceit wearily turned around. “You’ve got to me kidding me,” he almost groaned. Speaking of young superhero brats. It was Traffic Cone. Ever since the man, no child, had first seen him that day with Brigs, he’d been trying to track Deceit down. One would think that after seeing what Deceit had done to Mr. Penguins that the boy would get the message not to mess with the vigilante who’d been working in the city for probably decades before he was even born. Yet, the kid must have a chip on his shoulder or something, because he’d been persistent in following him around ever since. Deceit had managed to avoid him up until now, but he’d been tired and apparently had a lapse in vigilance.

“Fight me!” Traffic Cone insisted, shucking off his hero stance and tone to replace it with a slightly maniacal grin. Stupid idiot hero with delusions of grandeur. Did he really think he’d even get close to winning against Deceit?

“Look, kid,” Deceit ground out. “I don’t feel like kicking your ass today.”

“Well I do! And I finally caught up with you, so you’re not getting away from me without a fight!”

Deceit arched an eyebrow. “You do?” he clarified with a smirk. “You do feel like you want me to kick your ass today?”

Instead of getting all stuttery or angry and arguing that, no he’d meant he felt like kicking Deceit’s ass, he just stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry.

Deceit gave him an irritated look, feeling his already steaming agitation boil over. “Fine,” he snapped.

“Really?!” he looked almost excited, like a puppy wagging its tail. “So, ho- where did you go?”

Deceit rolled his eyes and took a step towards him, feet light even if they didn’t have to be since the illusion that Deceit was no longer in the alley that he’d just placed in the kid’s mind would supersede his natural senses. Traffic Cone’s eyes bopped around the space in confusion.

“Oh, I see,” Traffic Cone said after a brief moment of confusion, causing Deceit to pause a few feet away from him. “This is part of it. You’re still here, you just are making me think you’re not.”

Deceit hummed. Astute. Most people were panicking by now, but Traffic Cone was calm and accurately able to piece together what had happened.

“Alright then,” the man said cheerfully. He put his hands up in a typical boxing stance. “Let’s go!”

Deceit just shook his head, unwillingly amused with him and side stepped him. He positioned himself so the kid wouldn’t be able to lash out and hit him with his super-strength in the split second between when he’d feel Deceit’s touch and when the illusion would take hold. Then, Janus stripped off one of his gloves. He didn’t need to touch someone to activate his powers anymore. He was long past that. Yet, physical contact still gave Deceit more precise control over what he did to someone, and he didn’t want to accidently shove the dumb toddler into a nightmare if he resisted too hard.

 _Gentle,_ he reminded himself as he reached out. _He’s an annoyance not an enemy._ His fingers descended on his forearm, and the boy went still.

“Oh,” he said, blinking fast as though trying to remove something from his eye. Deceit made the alleyway around them fold and spiral away from his perceptions. “T-that’s weird.” There was a spike of fear, but it was more instinctual than anything real and was easy to bat away. It was surprising, actually, the lack of real fear. Most of the newbie cops and baby supers that came after him were doing so because they considered him a threat. So, most panicked when they felt themselves slipping under his power. Yet, Traffic Cone was steady under it. Deceit didn’t even sense any embarrassment about being taken out so fast. “It’s like a tilt-a-whirl,” he breathed.

Deceit arched an eyebrow. They were usually too trapped in their own minds at this point in the process to speak. That was strange, but what was even stranger was how the boy’s mind held steady in the transitional phase of fuzzy white and black that rippled like TV static across all of his senses. Usually one’s mind would start filling in the gaps automatically, grappling for some sort of calm in the storm, and Deceit would just push it away from anything dangerous. Yet, Traffic Cone seemed to be oddly be content to rest in the nothing. Deceit didn’t know what to make of it.

Despite his curiosity, Deceit still shoved at him gently until he teetered off the edge into what Deceit thought was the memory of three different locations. Most of the space Deceit saw was a childhood bedroom with cheery aquatic animals on the walls and a colorful rug, but what tipped him off to the fact that it wasn’t just one location was the out of place full sized bed with the dark green comforter and the matching nightstand with a murder mystery novel on it’s top. It was an adult bedroom, likely his current one, familiar and comfortable but not sentimental. The last location bled through only in the structure of the walls and a fireplace. It seemed to be based off a cabin in the woods if the view of the sun setting over a lake outside the large window on one wall was anything to go by. It was probably a place he’d visited a few times and had a good time at.

Even though it was a mixture of locations, the memory seemed strong. Nothing was fuzzy around the edges and the inclusions from each place were logical in its construction. It was tidy and calm. The fireplace gave off waves of warmth and it smelled vaguely of cedar. He imagined the blankets on the bed were soft to the touch and all was quiet except for the crackle of the fire. Deceit was impressed. He’d expected a mess of a mind from how he’d seen the boy act, but this was decidedly not.

After a pause, Deceit drew away, leaving him inside that illusion. “Let’s get you back to Brigs.” His eyes flickered to Janus to Janus’s surprise. He shouldn’t be taking in any external stimulus yet with the attack so recent and Deceit still so near.

“Okay,” he agreed, voice distant. If Janus didn’t know any better, he’d say that the kid must have some sort of mental power. The problem with that conclusion was that he’d already read up on him when he’d started following Deceit around, and his power was reportedly super-strength. He shook the idea of the boy having a mental power away. Surely, he would have met at least some resistance if that were true, and Deceit had met less than normal.

“Come on, Traffic Cone,” Janus said, physically and mentally nudging him back towards the street. Deceit threw up a small field around them to keep passersby from seeing them and then checked the hacked security cameras on his phone. As expected, Brigs was sitting in his car in one of his usual spots. It wasn’t too far, and they could walk there easily.

It was a few minutes of walking later that the boy looked up slowly. “I told you I didn’t choose the costume,” he grumbled.

Deceit blinked at him but didn’t comment on his unusual lucidness.

Upon Deceit allowing the man to see him and Traffic Cone, Brigs laid his head briefly on his steering wheel. If Deceit cracked a smile, there was no one around to see it.

Brigs exited his car and looked Traffic Cone over with a sigh. “I told him not to.”

“You always do.”

“This was fun,” Traffic Cone said with an out-of-it giggle. “We should do it again some time.”

“Is he always like that?” Deceit asked tiredly.

Brigs looked over at the man with annoyance and maybe an iota of affection. “Unfortunately.”


End file.
